How to boost employment rates? Even in the 3k era of human society, this remained a thorny systemic problem.
Modern economic research indicates that relying solely on administrative measures to create jobs is like drinking poison to quench thirst.
When labor factors are allocated to unproductive sectors, it not only leads to resource misallocation but can also trigger a vicious cycle of diminishing marginal returns.
The essence of the problem lies in a healthy mechanism for value creation.
According to Adam Smith's theory of the "invisible hand," only when laborers' productive activities can be transformed into effective supply through market exchange can the economic flywheel of "employment-consumption-investment" be formed.
Taking the Soviet Union in the late 20th century as an example, although the planned economic system created the appearance of full employment, the structural imbalance between heavy and light industries ultimately led to the collapse of the entire economic system.
This confirms the core tenet of Keynesianism: demand-side vitality is the fundamental driving force of the labor market.
In the Imperium of Man of the 40th Millennium, this economic iron law still exists in a somewhat alienated form.
While the Adeptus Mechanicus can deploy hundreds of millions of laborers into meaningless prayer rituals, and Planetary Governors can compel civilians to build monuments reaching the ionosphere, these superficial human resource expenditures fundamentally still adhere to the principle of "demand determines supply," except that the demand subject has been alienated from the free market to become the materialization of the ruling class's will.
To settle the two billion people on Rostov II, it is essential to ensure that their labor can be converted into actual economic value.
Even the most primitive, consumptive labor serving the ruling class, such as building luxurious palace complexes for Planetary Governor Alex.
Under the Imperium of Man's logic of governance, even meaningless consumption of labor, as long as it maintains the stability of the social structure, can to some extent be considered an embodiment of "value."
However, Alex was not the kind of vulgar ruler who indulged in personal pleasure.
He knew that simply relying on symbolic grand projects to absorb the surplus population was merely drinking poison to quench thirst.
Even if he were to order the construction of a colossal complex comparable to the Imperial Palace on Terra—such as a gilded palace spanning the entire Tibetan Plateau, adorned with tens of thousands of statues, gardens, and monuments—such a project could at most absorb a few tens of millions of laborers, which would be a drop in the ocean for two billion unemployed people.
Moreover, such massive unproductive construction would inevitably lead to the rapid depletion of the planetary treasury, ultimately triggering an even more severe economic collapse.
Therefore, the true solution must be more efficient and sustainable—not to have two billion people build an endless palace, but to have them invest in industries that can truly drive Rostov II's economic development.
If this requirement were made in the 3k era, it would be enough to cause all governments on Earth to collapse.
The employment needs of two billion people, even considering the supporting industries required to maintain their basic livelihoods, far exceeded the carrying capacity of any economic system at that time.
In the relatively less productive Golden Age, merely addressing the basic survival needs of two billion people—food rationing, clean water supply, waste disposal, housing—would have been enough to cripple the fiscal systems of most nations.
Not to mention creating actual valuable jobs for them; this was simply an impossible task.
But fortunately, it is now the 40th Millennium.
Human civilization has long since broken free from the confines of Earth, establishing a vast Imperium spanning the galaxy.
In this era of interstellar colonization, while settling two billion people is still a formidable challenge, it is by no means impossible.
Advanced industrial technology, vast resource reserves, and the Imperium's unique "at all costs" administrative model provide the possibility of solving this problem.
After carefully analyzing various data for the planet Rostov II—including existing industrial structure, resource distribution, population density, and infrastructure status—Alex quickly formulated a series of unprecedented engineering projects.
These projects would not only effectively absorb surplus labor but also fundamentally enhance the planet's economic strength and strategic value.
Each project was precisely calculated to ensure it would create enough jobs while avoiding resource waste and inefficiency.
Alex's first major decision was the large-scale expansion of the Sacred Blessing Vineyard.
As an important holy site of the Ecclesiarchy, the core area of this sacred vineyard was entirely monopolized by the Adepta Sororitas, with ordinary citizens not even having the right to approach.
However, on a planet like Rostov II, covered in Gobi and desert, maintaining such a large vineyard was itself a massive undertaking.
Previously, the Ecclesiarchy had already established a vast logistical support system for it.
From water circulation treatment plants to climate control stations, from transportation networks to repair workshops, and even a complete city built specifically to serve the Sisters of Battle.
Now, with the expansion of the vineyard, these supporting facilities must also be upgraded simultaneously.
In particular, the colossal ecological dome Alex planned to build—this massive structure, which would cover the entire vineyard area, would require tens of thousands of workers to construct its adamantium framework, install force field generators, and lay irrigation pipelines.
Once completed, its daily maintenance alone would require a standing technical team.
At the same time, Alex also initiated another even grander project: the construction of three new orbital elevators on the planet's surface.
The existing Orbital Elevator in the Starport district could no longer meet the growing transportation demands, especially after connecting with the Orbital Ring currently under construction, which would multiply logistics pressure.
These three new Orbital Elevators would be evenly distributed along the equator, with the base of each elevator developing into a new urban center.
This not only solved the transportation bottleneck but also effectively redistributed the population, reducing the ecological burden on existing cities.
Although Rostov II's environment was harsh, after the ecological transformation project led by Ovilia, fragile ecosystems had begun to appear in certain areas.
Alex specifically located the new cities outside these ecologically sensitive zones, while also maintaining necessary environmental protection measures.
Once these two major projects were underway, at least one-third of the two billion laborers were absorbed, significantly alleviating the pressure.
Coupled with Alex's plans to expand the existing cities on Rostov, add to the Ecclesiarchy churches, and construct a planetary defense system, these various projects would absorb most of the two billion laborers, leaving only a small number of unemployed people.
At this point, even if Alex wanted to build palaces or similar structures, it would be feasible and would not cause any adverse effects.
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